The AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) is a unified command-line tool for managing Amazon Web Services from your terminal. Instead of clicking through multiple console pages, you can create, configure, and delete AWS resources using simple text commands that can be scripted, automated, and version-controlled. The CLI v2 — the current major version — supports over 200 AWS services and provides both high-level convenience commands (like aws s3 sync and aws ddb put) and low-level API access for precise control. CLI v1 enters maintenance mode in July 2026; migrating to v2 is strongly recommended.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This topic spans 32 focused tables and 261 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.
A jump-to index of every table row in this cheat sheet.
An interactive map of every table and concept in this topic.
Table 1: Installation and Setup
Getting the CLI onto your machine and pointing it at an AWS account is the first thing every workflow depends on. Beyond the platform installers, the real work here is credential setup — aws configure for interactive entry, named profiles to juggle multiple accounts, and aws configure sso for the modern Identity Center flow that has largely replaced long-term keys.
| Method | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
aws configure | • Interactive setup for access key ID, secret access key, default region, and output format • stores in ~/.aws/credentials and ~/.aws/config. | |
aws --version | • Displays the installed version (e.g., aws-cli/2.34.0)• confirms installation success. | |
aws configure --profile dev | • Creates a separate profile for different accounts or roles • use --profile dev in commands to switch context. | |
aws configure sso | • Sets up IAM Identity Center authentication • modern replacement for long-term access keys in multi-account environments. | |
aws configure list-profiles | • Prints all named profile names from config files • v2-only command. | |
aws configure import --csv file://credentials.csv | • Imports credentials from a console-generated CSV file • creates named profiles matching IAM user names • v2-only. |